Boggs gets in by a comfortable margin, which I think is deserved. He was one of the best players in the game for most of my childhood, he got his 3,000 hits...so what if he was ready to go in as a Devil Ray, he deserved the recognition. Sandberg's merit is certainly arguable, my only objection is that he basically had to force his way in by being on the ballot numerous times. Without reiterating the argument from the previous HoF thread, let me just say I hope this is the last we hear of Bruce Sutter, Jim Rice, Goose Gossage, and Andre Dawson.

Arguable? He was the best at his position of his time, what more do you want from him? Nine GG's, 10 All-Star games, the 1984 MVP, 7 Silver Sluggers, career HR mark for 2B at the time of his retirement, and besides that, Boggs is only the 41st first ballot inductee. Sandberg was on three times, please explain how that is "forcing his way in".

As I've said before, I believe strongly that you're either in or you're out. Ryne Sandberg's numbers didn't get any better in the years since he was first on the ballot. Guys should be eligible once, in my opinion. That way, you wouldn't have guys getting in just by virtue of being the best of a weak polling class (see Carter, Gary).

41 first ballot inductees, sure, but guys have only been getting in on the first ballot for about 40 years.